I’m going to Ukraine!–Orphanage Visits & Interviews

Yep, yep, it’s true! August 31st, I will be leaving to join a team of 5 others from New Horizons for Children for the Fall 2011 Interview trip. Half of the team will have spent the week prior meeting & interviewing potential host kids in Latvia, then the rest of us will join up for the following 2 weeks in Ukraine.

When LeAnn, the hosting director of New Horizons, sent out an email saying they needed one more person for the trip, I couldn’t resist the invitation. My calendar is wide-open now, since I haven’t gotten a permanent full-time job. I do believe God can withhold things from you for a reason… If I was in my first year of school counseling right now, there I no way I could be going on this trip. And the pieces just keep falling together.

LeAnn has told us “We will start out Sept 2 to drive several hours before we begin interviews and meet a record number of children for any trip. We have been told to expect more than 400 in one new "eager" region alone!”

I’m so looking forward to this great opportunity! I have heard it can be a very difficult, but also very rewarding trip. We will be traveling all around the country to visit orphanages and interview/screen kids for the Christmas 2011 host program. …and delivering gifts to this summer’s host kids too! And I really hope I get to see my Sasha, what an amazing experience it will be to visit him in his home!

I ask each of you to pray without ceasing and enlist your best prayer warrior friends to pray for the team (LeAnn, Jim, Stephanie, Nicole, April, & myself) and trips, orphanages, kids and also those that have to give permissions to allow hosting in both Ukraine and Latvia. God is already going before us and I pray that He will continue to work many miracles!

I am also raising support online for some of my personal expenses for the trip. I’m not doing anything big like sending letters or public speaking, just posting this link for people to give online. Anything you would like to give would be a great help!

Pure and genuine religion in the sight of God the Father means caring for orphans and widows in their distress and refusing to let the world corrupt you. James 1:27 (NLT)

Wow! What an amazing experience that will be! I cannot believe Artem leaves on Monday!! He is in the same orphanage as the little boy we had first selected to host and then couldn’t come. I’d love to send bags to both of them – if the team is doing that fundraiser again, would you want to take our bags? 🙂